The words of "" have often been set to music as part of the
Requiem service. In some settings, it is broken up into several movements; in such cases, "" refers only to the first of these movements, the others being titled according to their respective
incipits. The earliest surviving polyphonic setting of the Requiem, by
Johannes Ockeghem, does not include "". The first polyphonic settings to include the "" are by
Engarandus Juvenis (1490) and
Antoine Brumel (1516) to be followed by many composers of the renaissance. Later, many notable choral and orchestral settings of the Requiem including the sequence were made by composers such as
Charpentier,
Delalande,
Mozart,
Berlioz,
Verdi,
Britten and
Stravinsky.
Giovanni Battista Martini ended his set of (mostly humorous) 303 canons with a set of 20 on extracts of the sequence poem.
13th-century Gregorian chant The original Gregorian setting, dating back to the 13th century, was a sombre
plainchant (or
Gregorian chant). It is in the
Dorian mode. In four-line
neumatic notation, it begins: In 5-line
staff notation: : >
Musical quotations The traditional Gregorian melody gained widespread recognition through its use in
Berlioz's
Symphonie fantastique. Since then, it has become associated with themes of death and terror, especially during the 19th century. After Berlioz, it was used as a
theme or
musical quotation in many classical compositions, including: •
Thomas Adès –
Totentanz (2013) •
Charles-Valentin Alkan –
Souvenirs: , Op. 15 (No. 3: ) (1837) •
Eric Ball – "Resurgam" (1950) •
Ernest Bloch – (1944) •
Mel Bonis - , Op. 107 •
Johannes Brahms –
Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, No. 6, Intermezzo in E-flat minor (1893) •
Andrew Campling -
In Paradisum (2002) •
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco – , Op. 195: "XII. " (plate 24) (1961) •
Frédéric Chopin - Prelude No. 2 in A Minor, Opus 28 (1839), sometimes referred to as "Presentiment to Death" (or "Prelude to Death"). •
George Crumb –
Black Angels (1970) •
Luigi Dallapiccola –
Canti di prigionia •
Michael Daugherty –
Metropolis Symphony 5th movement, "Red Cape Tango";
Dead Elvis for bassoon and chamber ensemble (1993) •
Ernő Dohnányi – no. 4 (E-flat minor) of "Four Rhapsodies" for Piano, op. 11 •
Antonio Estévez -
Cantata Criolla (1954) •
Alberto Ginastera –
Bomarzo, Op. 34 (1967) •
Alexander Glazunov –
Symphony No. 5 (4th movement), Op. 55 (1885),
From the Middle Ages Suite, No. 2 "Scherzo", Op. 79 (1902) •
Benjamin Godard –
Dante opera, act 4, No. 35 Suite du Finale "Partons !" (1890) •
Charles Gounod –
Faust opera, act 4 (1859),
Mors et vita, part II, oratorio (1886) •
Gustav Holst –
The Planets, movement 5, "Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age" •
Arthur Honegger – , H. 131 (1938) •
Hans Huber quotes the melody in the second movement ("Funeral March") of his Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 118 (
Heroic, 1908). •
Alexander Kastalsky – Requiem for Fallen Brothers, movements 3 and 4 (1917) •
Aram Khachaturian –
Piano Concerto Op. 38 (1936), Symphony No. 1 (1934),
Symphony No. 2 (1944), Concerto-Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra,
Cello Concerto in E minor, Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, Violin Concerto in D minor • –
Preludes on Polish Church Hymns: Dies Irae (1867) •
György Ligeti –
Le Grand Macabre (1974–77) •
Franz Liszt –
Totentanz (1849) •
Gustav Mahler –
Symphony No. 2, movements 1 and 5 (1888–94) •
Jules Massenet –
Eve (1927) •
Camille Saint-Saëns – ;
Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony),
Requiem (1878) •
Dmitri Shostakovich –
Symphony No. 14;
Aphorisms, Op. 13 – No. 7, "Dance of Death" (1969) •
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji – (1948–49) and nine other works •
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Modern Greek Song (In Dark Hell) Op. 16 No. 6 (1884);
Manfred Symphony (1885) •
Frank Ticheli – Vesuvius (1999) for wind band •
Eugène Ysaÿe –
Solo Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 27, No. 2 "Obsession" (1923) •
Bernd Alois Zimmermann –
Musique pour les soupers du roi Ubu It has also been used in many film scores and popular works, such as: •
Michel F. April – main theme of
Dead by Daylight soundtrack •
Bathory – on the album
Blood Fire Death (1988) •
Jacques Brel -
La Mort on the album
La Valse à mille temps (1959) derives its verse melody and several instrumental phrases from the tune. The song is best known in English translation as
My Death and has been covered by numerous artists including
Scott Walker on
Scott (1967). •
Wendy Carlos and
Rachel Elkind – Opening theme for
The Shining (1980) •
Matt Dahan - Opening leitmotif to the song “Damn the Torpedoes” in episode 3 of the radio-style musical series “Pulp Musicals” entitled “The Ghosts of Antikythera”. •
Editors – "Lights" on the album
The Back Room (2005) •
Danny Elfman – "Making Christmas" from
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) •
Gerald Fried – Opening theme for
The Return of Dracula, 1958 •
Hugo Friedhofer – opening scene of
Between Heaven and Hell (film) (1956) •
Diamanda Galás –
Masque of the Red Death: Part I –
The Divine Punishment •
Michael Giacchino - quoted during the maze bulldozer scene in
Zootopia 2 (2025) •
Jerry Goldsmith –
The Mephisto Waltz (1971),
Poltergeist (1982) •
Donald Grantham – ''Baron Cimetiére's Mambo'' (2004) •
Guy Gross – "Salve me Lacrimosa" from the American-Australian television series
Farscape •
Kirk Hammet –
The Incantation (5:57-6:35) on the EP
Portals (2022) •
Bernard Herrmann quoted in the main theme for
Citizen Kane (1941);
Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (quoted during the scene of the scattering of the hydra's teeth) •
Gottfried Huppertz – Score for
Metropolis (1927) •
Jethro Tull – The instrumental track "Elegy" featured on the band's 12th studio album
Stormwatch is based on the melody. •
Christopher Larkin - "Enter Pharloom", "Awakening", "Silksong" from the metroidvania
Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025). •
Jonathan Larson – "
La Vie Bohème" from
Rent (1996) and
its 2005 film adaptation, quoted including lyrics •
Led Zeppelin –
Stairway to Heaven on the album
Led Zeppelin IV (1971) •
Robert Lopez and
Kristen Anderson-Lopez –
Frozen II (soundtrack), "
Into the Unknown" (2019) •
Harry Manfredini – main title theme for
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) •
The Melvins – on their album "
Nude with Boots" (2008) •
Alan Menken and
Stephen Schwartz –
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
soundtrack; "
The Bells of Notre Dame" features passages from the first and second stanzas as lyrics. •
Francis Monkman – additional track
"Dies Irae" on ''
Sky (1979 studio album by Sky)' (1979)'' •
Ennio Morricone – "Penance" from his
score for
The Mission (1986) •
Lionel Newman –
Compulsion •
The Newton Brothers -
Doctor Sleep, the sequel to
The Shining (2019) •
Queensrÿche - The opening verses of
"Dies Irae" are used at the beginning of the song 'Suite Sister Mary' and other verses throughout that song on their
Operation : Mindcrime album •
Leonard Rosenman – the main theme of
The Car (1977) •
Jeff Russo – Mullen's entrance to the Joint Session of Congress from the television series
Zero Day score (unknown if included on the 2025 soundtrack). •
Saja Boys – "
Your Idol" from the animated film
KPop Demon Hunters (2025). •
Alex Brightman and the Beetlejuice Original Broadway Cast Recording Ensemble -
"The Whole "Being Dead" Thing" from the
Beetlejuice Broadway musical (2018). •
Howard Shore -
Leitmotif of the
Nazgûl in
Peter Jackson's
Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) - featured most prominently when the
Witch-king summons the armies of Mordor forth from Minas Morgul •
Stephen Sondheim –
Sweeney Todd – quoted in "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and the accompaniment to "Epiphany" (1979) •
Symphony X – Their album
V – The New Mythology Suite references this work multiple times, such as in the song "A Fool's Paradise". •
Cristobal Tapia de Veer –
The White Lotus opening credits •
Lorien Testard – "Spring Meadows - Beneath the Blue Tree" from the role-playing video game
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025). •
John Williams – "Old Man Marley"
leitmotif from his
score for
Home Alone (1990) and quoted in
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) when Luke discovers that Imperial Stormtroopers have killed his uncle and aunt. •
Hans Zimmer – "The Rightful King" from
The Lion King soundtrack, "Rock House Jail" from
The Rock soundtrack, and "House Atreides" from
the 2021 Dune adaptation. ==References==